


i could really use a wish right now

by MaddieandChimney



Series: Meet Cutes [16]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:28:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27905245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaddieandChimney/pseuds/MaddieandChimney
Summary: Meeting their gaze after throwing a coin in a wishing fountain.
Relationships: Maddie Buckley/Howie "Chimney" Han
Series: Meet Cutes [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1927492
Comments: 1
Kudos: 8
Collections: 9-1-1 Tales





	i could really use a wish right now

Chimney clutches the coin tightly in his hand as he looks at the fountain in front of him, his eyes moving down towards the flurry of coins beneath the water’s surface. He thinks about how each one contains a wish that someone had made, in the hopes that it would come true and he wonders how many of them had. Not a single wish he’d ever uttered whilst standing at the edge of the fountain had ever come true but… it was something he’d do with his mother before she had died and something he never could stop himself from doing when a significant date passed him by. Her birthday, the anniversary of her death, Christmas, New Years…

It’s stupid, how he still clings onto that smile his mom had when she threw her own coin into the fountain, shaking her head when he’d asked her what she wished for before telling him to do the same. Somehow, a part of him still clings to the hope that something he wishes for will come true one day. Maybe he should keep it simple, he supposes, wish for something like his favourite coffee shop not to run out of pumpkin flavoured syrup today or that Hen remembers his burrito order for once.

He definitely shouldn’t be wishing for something quite as pathetic as someone falling in love with him. Chimney wants to laugh at himself for even thinking such a thing, and then laugh even harder when he realises it’s not the first time he’s made such a wish and it probably won’t be the last. There’s a long line of failed relationships behind him, none of them working out in the way he’d hoped for. Tatiana being the most recent, having left him whilst he was in a coma after a car accident that had left him on the brink of death. And all he could think about when he’d thought he was dying was how he had never found love, just like his mom had always wanted for him. When _she_ was dying, she had told him how she had hoped he’d have better luck in love than she ever had and how she hoped he’d feel the love of a child of his own, just as she had with him.

He wishes for it anyway, feeling like an idiot whilst he does and he can practically hear his mom’s voice telling him that if he doesn’t believe in the magic of the fountain, then of course, none of his wishes will come true. Brown eyes follow the coin as it lands in the water, joining every other wish, just as another splash can be seen next to it and he looks up to find who else would be making a wish at ten o’clock at night on Christmas Eve.

His eyes meet hers, the two of them having been seemingly lost in their own worlds to even notice that someone else was there. Her eyes are beautiful, although incredibly sad before she smiles at him and he can feel himself smiling back at her easily. “What did you wish for?” She asks and her voice is like honey and she’s only said five words to him and he wants to hear more already. Is he crazy?

“If I told you, it won’t come true.” If her voice wasn’t enough to make his heart beat faster, her laugh definitely is and he takes the moment to look at her in the most subtle, non-evasive way he possibly can. She’s wrapped up warm, her long hair curled over her shoulders and her arms wrapped around herself and the confidence comes from nowhere, the kind he’s never really felt before without alcohol pulsing through his veins to help. “There’s a great place up the road that does the best hot chocolate, can I tempt you?”

She pauses and he can see the doubt crossing her face before she looks him up and down, biting down on her lip as though she’s evaluating whether she can trust him or not. He’s still in his paramedic uniform, having decided to walk through the park on his way home instead of spending another lonely Christmas Eve in his apartment, after lying to his friends that he had plans so they didn’t think he was too much of a loser. Finally, the beautiful stranger nods her head, “I _did_ wish for a hot chocolate with all the works.”

He’d be embarrassed by the sound that comes from his throat when he laughs but he can see her smile and her flushed cheeks before she steps towards him. “I’m Maddie.”

“Howie.” Her hand reaches out for his and he shakes it, hearing his mom’s voice in the back of his head as he does, always telling him to be patient and to just believe. Maybe she was onto something after all.


End file.
